


Gods Never Die

by Ribbonshalos



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Creation Myth, F/M, Gods AU, One Shot, Pacific Genji, Pre-Relationship, Violence, War, Winged Victory Mercy, everyone's a god
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-28 20:14:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16729998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ribbonshalos/pseuds/Ribbonshalos
Summary: Mortals are created by the first gods. To honor this creation, they build temples and erect statues to praise them. The mortals fail to honor the god of death, as they fear his embodiment. In his insulted fury, he sets out to destroy all of mankind, but the other gods fight back to protect their creations.





	Gods Never Die

**Author's Note:**

> This is more of a prologue to this AU for Genji and Mercy, but I wanted to established this universe a little bit.

Life begins with a single sun. From that sun, a half of its heart is given to create the moon, and light the night. In this creation, ashes of the sun’s center is cast out into the darkness. Those ashes hang in the blackness and shine.

As its heart is still bore open, five gods emerge, born from brilliant light and reality. They are as the sun. Endlessly energy and the ability to creation holds in their centers. They craft their own names. Jack, Ana, Gabriel, Torbjörn and Reinhardt are the first beings.

Jack, the first god to be birthed, leads the others into creation. The earth is larger than the moon, but smaller than the sun. This is where they make their homes and create more life.

Ana is the first to craft a mortal, before dividing her first creation into male and female. Their souls are bound to each other as eternal mates. Ana’s second titles are given as goddess of family, and children.

These mortals are not like the gods. Their fragile, temporal bodies age, but their souls do not wither or decrease. To care for these souls, Gabriel takes upon the embodiment of death. He creates a paradise, far from the earth or moon or sun, and allows souls to journey there after their lives end.

The mortals flourish. Filling the earth with their seed, they begin to build. Homes protect and keep a family together. Yet, they do not recognize who brought them into existence. Torbjörn takes upon the mantle of building, and metal crafting. He gives the mortals tools and the ability to create stunning temples and towering statues in honor of their creators.

Families bloom. More men begin to take to the earth and the waters upon it. They expand, creating nations and kingdoms. Leaders among the mortals overrule the people. To give them a greater purpose, Reinhardt becomes the god of honor, and glory. He encourages steadfastness to one’s own family, and strength in brotherhood.

The prosperity of their creations thrive and grow. The gods are proud of their children, and their works in honoring and remembering them. It lasts for a golden, beautiful era of beginnings and new identities.

Beginnings end, just as most things do. As they fall into their natural ways, the gods make homes upon the horizon of the sea. They are worshiped with prayers and offerings.

Like a a building settling upon an uneven foundation, a crack appears in the base of the structure. A rift is torn between the gods. Gabriel is not acknowledge, or prayed to as often as the other gods. His name is not revered, or worshiped day after day with statues predicting his mightiness. The mortals fear Gabriel. Their prayers are cried out to the other gods, whose purposes are kinder.

Jealousy blooms like a black flower within Gabriel. His role should be respected and admired, but the mortals do not see it as so. They are afraid of ending. The new beginning Gabriel gives does not entice them. In his wrath, Gabriel sends a plague to man. It sweeps the earth in a dark smoke cloud, ripping life from their bodies and leaving only  a blacken husked. There is no cure for a god’s fury. The plague takes so many lives that nearly all of the gods’ creations are destroyed.

The other gods are furious. Their worshipers are crying out for relief and aid as they fall dead. Gabriel’s plague forces them to shield the remaining mortals from this wicked disease. Only after they are certain the few humans they’ve protected will not be harmed, they confront Gabriel. His reasoning does not satisfy them. Despite the other gods preforming the same destruction when they have been dishonored or forgotten, they have stopped before their anger was overwhelming.  

There is no negotiation. Gabriel will see everything suffering a deadly decay. Ana’s, Torbjörn’s and Reinhardt’s persuasion fail to shift the death god’s purpose.

Jack is the first to strike out. His attack drives Gabriel back, but he nearly takes the first god’s life in revenge. The other gods step forward in defense. They only manage to escape from Gabriel’s power.

His titles are many. As the god of death, Gabriel is the only one who can truly destroy a god. He is filled with vengeance and injustice. After the first battle, Gabriel unleashes new destruction upon the earth. He destroys the lands, poisons the seas and kills every mortal he comes upon. Declaring boldly, Gabriel promises the gods demise.

Fear takes root within the other gods. Gabriel will not only kill their creations, but the other four gods as well. In this new threat, Jack builds them up, and leads them forward. They gather arms, and set out to protect the remaining mortals.

The war begins.

It is constant. Jack, Ana, Torbjörn and Reinhardt attack the death god with all of their powers and great weapons, but they only slow him. One touch of his hand can turn them to ash. Their strikes are calculated, and often only meant to stall Gabriel as Reinhardt shields the mortals. They cannot stop him alone.

In his reign of destruction, Gabriel takes upon the name Reaper.

During this war, new gods are born. From the havoc upon the earth, and intensity of the gods’ battles, their energy and ability to create scatters. In their desperate effort, from both sides, beings spring forth. When a drop of Reaper’s blood touches the earth, a monster springs out of the black spot. Sweat or tears or blood from the other gods give unknown birth to animals, plants and other gods.

A goddess of speed, time and cheerfulness is created from a clash of metallic sparks. Her efforts save Torbjörn from Reaper’s touch.

When Jack collides with Reaper, blood spills from his backside. A drop touches the moon, and a god takes shape from the golden blood. Shaping himself as a gorilla, with control over lightning, he joins the others in stopping Reaper.

In turn, Reaper calls upon the monsters of his creation. He molds servants in his own image as they join in on his attacks. Hailing death and destruction upon the mortals, his servants expand his conquest.

More beings are brought into existence. The new gods join Jack, Ana, Torbjörn and Reinhardt in their attempts to stop Reaper. They, too, see the good of mortal lives, and do not want to watch their beautiful earth turn to dust.

These battles rage from every point upon the earth. In Reaper’s endless crusade of death, he travels the world they created. One of their battles comes over a shoreline. Birds swarm over the boundary of land and sea. A dove attempts to fly away from the overwhelming battle, but is struck down from a misplaced blow.

The bird spirals to the ground, already dead. In its descend, a set of larger wings spring from the bird’s still heart. The cream colored feathers grow in the midst of the battle. They beat once before unfurling and revealing a woman from the base of its wings. A goddess is born. The incomparable wings gently hold her in the air as the fight continues underneath her.

She knows the battle, and understands the stakes of the war. Life upon this earth is in jeopardy. One god threatens all living beings with a violent end.

Her first exhale creates mist. It falls from her mouth as she begins to fill the battlefield with it’s cover. The gods do not stall in their fighting. Gentle moisture takes over the air as the goddess descends, and steps forward among the others who oppose Reaper.

Her presence is known immediately. Whenever Reinhardt falls back from a blow, the goddess’s fingers released a handful of water onto his wounds. Torbjörn stands back up after the goddess visits him for a moment. Her water faintly glows in the gray atmosphere, and revives all that comes into contact with it.

Ana and Jack call out to her, in need of aid. Her cream wings swiftly carry her to watch over them as they strike at Reaper in the same motion. She dives downs as Reaper swipes at their centers, pulling them back before they are harmed.

They stall him long enough to shield the mortals. Reaper moves down the coastal line to another mortal land. The gods can only take a moment to welcome their new eternal being. Her appearance is unusual, a mixture of humanoid and animal. The wings between her shoulder blades carry her like a bird. The essence falling from her breath and center is only gentle and calming.

“I am Mercy,” she speaks for the first time.

The gods entitle her as the embodiment of mist, healing, and peace. Reinhardt foresees her namesake being used when asking for compassion or forgiveness while held in the power of harm or destruction. They proclaim her existence as a sign of good fortune.

“She is a good omen,” Ana tells the other gods, “We will win this war with her.”

Mercy is only the first current among the changing tide. Two more beings are born who dare to tip the scales.

During one of the many godly clashes, a piece is broken off from the heated heart of the earth. A large stone rises to the bottom of the ocean. One half of this stone cools, while the other continues to burn with internal flames. Unfit to remain together, the stone rips itself in half. From the cooling and burning remains leaps two gods, brothers, born from the same source. The first brother to appear swims through the ocean. In his pursuit of the surface, he stirs earthquakes within the deepest trenches of the oceans, and raises tsunamis. His skin is designed with swirling imprints of light upon the sandy bottom of the ocean. The sea moves through his lungs, taking a part of his embodiment.

The second brother leaps out of the heated half of the stone. Pulsing with a beating, burning heart, this god swims to the surface as well. As he cuts through the water, liquid heat from the center of the earth accompanies him, creating thousands of islands before he breaks out of the ocean. His very body refuses the cool, smothering weight of the water, as he breathes with lava and enchanted armor.

The brothers arrive to the battle with sharpen blades and quick arrows. Armor covers their strange, glowing skin as they both strike at the death god. The brothers contain the fierceness of a thousand war cries, and move as if swaying through the ocean. They create burns and steam and rise again and again to meet Reaper. They almost overwhelm him. Almost.

Reinhardt declares the brothers as warriors and bestows upon them the embodiments of such. The first brother declares himself as Hanzo, god of tsunamis, assassinations and redemption.

“I am Genji,” the second brother proclaims. “God of volcanoes, war and lava.”

The older gods view the brothers with great hope. Their skills are unmatched. They alone almost overcame Reaper, and left the battle with little mortal injuries. Strength and courage fills their centers like a soul within a mortal.

“These brothers,” Jack speaks firmly, “will be a part of Reaper’s downfall.”

With their own army of gods, Jack, Ana, Torbjörn and Reinhardt conspire to stop Reaper. As he is a god, and one of the first, he cannot be truly killed. His role is still needed. To contain such vengeance without harming the natural order of death and protect their creations, the first gods plan while the others keep Reaper at bay.

The brothers fight viciously, almost of one mind. One god strikes at Reaper, and withdrawals to allow the other god to attack. Their fighting goes on for days, nearly weeks on end as plans are formulated into reality. The few times the brothers halt is to recover and heal, while Tracer, Winston, and other gods take to stalling their enemy.

The misty goddess attends to their wounds. Such harm to celestial bodies is almost impossible, were it not inflicted from the god of death himself. The lava and tsunami gods both retreat to allow Mercy to work her essence upon them. She crafts bowls and creates falling rivers that aid in their war.

Hanzo is impatient, ready to raise his sword once more. Her chastises keep him still until his deep blue, swirling skin is dry from her healing water. He stands without hindrance. No more wounds decorate his chest or slow his limbs.

Genji waits for her. He is just as eager as his brother, but stays in one place when Mercy comes to side. The elder brother doesn’t linger, and storms back to the rest of the gods.

He obeys her orders to sit back. The living heat in his skin hisses as she washes his wounds. It does little to affect him. A few trips are taken for her to gather and create enough healing water, for his wounds are deep and stained with death. He longs to stand, but remains still as Mercy props up his back. Only her eyes could sense any lingering poison lacing through his center. There is nothing left after her work.

“Jack has declared that we will stop Reaper tomorrow,” he speaks. Mercy’s gaze flickers to his masked face before returning to watch the sealing of his wounds. Her hand presses gently against the space in between his shoulder blades.

“I know,” she answers. “That is why I am taking extra care to heal you and your brother. Both of you refuse to rest for even a moment, but you will need all of your strength when the time comes.”

She speaks with sharp rebuke, but the lava god turns his head. The fiery, internal gaze just behind his mask lands upon her.

“Reaper refuses to stop,” he says with remorse for her.

She lifts her hand away. The water has sizzled off of his person. It took twice as much of her healing element, but Genji is no longer struggling against the black marks in his chest. She allows him to finally stand. Taking her bowl, she steps to the bottom of a falling river and kneels. It was created hastily, but it serves her well.  

The energy of the lava god stays at her back. From how quickly his brother was to depart, it almost shocks Mercy to find him still here.  

“Will you fight?” he asks.

Mercy lowers the bowl. Its edges dip into the water, gulping it within its brim before filling. She stands again and faces him. Between her palms, the water shifts from a dull existence to a gentle glow.

“Every god will be fighting,” she answers. “Reaper is powerful, but he can fall. It will take all of us to strike him down.”

She offers the bowl, nearly pressing it into his hands until he takes it. At her direction, he lifts his mask, and drinks it. Taking the bowl back without a word, Mercy watches him replace the engraved face plate.

“I have never seen you fight,” he says. His tone is lower, meaning something that Mercy doesn’t catch.

“I don’t like to,” she admits. “My time in past battles is spent healing, but I will not be defenseless. I am sure I will mostly be caring for others when we do face Reaper. However, I will aid in stopping him directly, if only for a few moments.”

He doesn’t seem to find her words pleasant. She takes his silence as expressing uncertainty that she is strong enough to fight. It almost makes her brow narrow at the insulting suggestion before he speaks once more.

“My brother and I can forge you a weapon,” he offers. “It will be an unbreakable blade, and as swift as your wings.”

Her folded wings press tightly against her back in slight shame. At least she did not speak her mind a few moments early. Genji must certainly be ensuring that every god will be able to aid in bringing Reaper to his knees.

“You are kind, but no.” Mercy smiles gently at his mask. “I will craft my own; when I have a moment to spare.”

He dips his head in acknowledgement. His stare lingers upon her before drawing his flaming sword, and leaping after the trail of his brother. The flames streaming behind Genji’s head flicker in her vision.

She has spoken with each god, but that was the first conversation she held with the lava god. Her healing always had to be swift before, as the fight worsens without his aid. His brother is not so open.

Her fingertips still buzz from the warmth of his body. The crackling pieces of his voice was deep but inviting. The absent image of his entire face abruptly poses itself in Mercy’s mind until she shoves it aside.

A moment arises now. Mercy sets her bowl aside, and expands her wings.

The new dawn brightens the horizon. Every god is anxious, and on edge. Jack, Ana, Torbjörn and Reinhardt have prepared an end to Reaper’s overwhelming rampage. It depends on the burning will, and unshakable determination of these celestial beings.

They gather on the shore of the mainland. Dark clouds threatens the sun’s light as his servants appear over the sea. Their master stands behind them upon a dark shadow, riding it like a unholy chariot.

As Jack calls out to Reaper, demanding him to halt this war, Mercy finds Genji’s stare among the final stand of the gods. He holds ready beside his brother. His burning mask looks to her, almost startled by her returning gaze.

Silently, as bravery burns her veins and fear threatens her center, she holds out her choice of weapon. A staff crafted from gold and white oak cradles the wreathed torch of a flame. The single fire burns brightly, immune to mist or swift air. Mercy displays it as a small vigil of victory that will hopefully bless them on this day. Crafted carefully by her hands, Mercy favors the dual purpose of her staff. She does not wish to only carry a weapon.

He doesn’t show it, but Mercy senses his smile. He nods once in approval. They both turn away, back to Reaper, and Jack warning him that they will not rest until he falls on this day.

Reaper accepts the other gods challenge, unphased by their numbers. His servants lunge, all marked with different aspects of death. The gods rise to meet their attack with their own. War cries and shouts of defiance at defeat break the heavens.

The desperate need to protect their creations push them harder. The mortals don’t know that their entire existence balances upon the swift blows and sharp clashes between the gods. Monsters arise, and plagues are set out from Reaper’s servant, but they are defeated. Fire and ice takes to burning and freezing any god close enough to be affected. Healing gods protect and revitalizes as war gods are sent out to retaliate.

It is not a single battle, but an entire war engulfed upon one battlefield. On the land and through the waves, gods scream and fight. There is no ending but this one; whether of Reaper, or of the other gods.

The final end begins with the downfall of one servant. The servant unleashing monsters is brought down by Tracer’s swift slash. Reaper lashes out in fury at this, but the battle does not slow for the fallen. Another servant is stopped, while another is defeated. The last two hardly last a moment before they are sprung upon and disabled.

The gods are breathless. Death marks their skin with ashy flakes, but they still stand and face him. Reaper is a storm, an entire sky and sea of decay and lost. The final plan is set into motion as Reinhardt leads the attack.

He strikes and claws and blasts them back but they return, all the more invigorated. Inch by inch he is pushed further to the ground. The gods’ fight Reaper back to a certain spot in the earth. A prison awaits, crafted by Torbjörn. It’s buried deep within black soil, where no light reaches. Blessed by most of the gods, the prison’s bars will hold whoever is place there for eternity.

Reaper does not stand forever. His back is bent against the endless parade of gods fighting death for life itself. A frightening energy burns in the centers of these beings. Within Reaper, his own slowly dulls into nothing more then a spark. He is brought to his knees, defeated but still fighting.

Jack, the firstborn god, delivers the last blow. The attack sends him spiraling down into the pit. His now black and smoking matter falls into his personal prison. As it seals upon him, Ana places a curse on the death god, sentencing him to an eternal slumber.

The prison seals, and the pit fills with dirt while a sea is placed above it. Life continues, just as death does. No longer overwhelming, the first gods come to know relief.

Their creations will not suffer anymore.

Their united purpose is fulfilled. No longer bound to each other with the same goal, many newborn gods leave to enjoy the world. Their embodiments are awake and meant to be placed among the mortals. The gods are eager to make worshipers.

Jack is left with scars even Mercy can’t make fade. He fought Reaper with all of his might, and took upon his deathly attacks the most. A weariness set in his bones makes him inconsolable to losing one of his friends. He lingers on the shore of where the prison lies as night falls. Mercy and Ana are the few to stay, and bask in their victory. It is a time to rest, and celebrate. Eventually, at Ana’s gentle pace, she eases Jack away. The older gods leave. The weight upon their shoulders appear as if they never won the war at all.

For some time, Mercy believes herself to be alone. Along the sea, she stares at where Reaper remains. Not dead, for death still needs to exist to bring rest to the mortal’s souls, but asleep.

“Why do you stay here?” a crackling voice asks. Mercy turns take in the burning sight of Genji. As if he’s a beacon to the dark night.

“I fear that he will not remain asleep,” she confesses, overlapping her fingers while gripping her staff. “We lost half of our creations in one war when it took several millenniums to expand their lives.”

The lava god looks out to the black sea. His sword is sheathed, but Mercy feels his burning energy. This was his embodiment. He was born for this conflict. Now, it lies behind them, finished.

“The mortals will rebuild, and recreate themselves,” Genji steadily speaks. “So long as the gods live, so will they. You should rest, Reaper is defeated now.”

Mercy gazes at Genji, weighing his words against her thoughts. How concerned he is, over how planned to defend herself and how weary her wings are after her heavy flight.

“Do you miss it?” she asks quietly.

“Miss what?” His mask looks to her in question.

“The war?” Mercy clarifies, studying his living, breathing body of flame.

The lava god stills. The flames behind his skull flicker, as if moving along to his thoughts. Mercy silently braces for his answer.

“No. I don’t take enjoyment in war,” he says almost softly. “But it exists, as must I.”

He turns to her, burning against her misty atmosphere, “As must healing.”

“As must life and death,” Mercy breathes. It is what exists. Equals and different, conflicting but harmonizing. There is no fear without the existence of bravery. No wounds exist without healing, and no peace can reign without the absence of war.

They both stand, overlooking the sea in silence. Mercy’s feathers ruffle at the heat of his body. Genji shifts to almost touch his mask, but reconsiders as he lowers his hand.

“I want to stay close to watch over the prison,” Mercy breaks the quiet with her gentle voice. “I must be nearby if he ever awakens. Only my healing water can save those afflicted by his touch.”

A heartbeat passes. The lava god drops his gaze to the sand, before flickering it back to her.  

“I must stay close, too. I will be able to hold him off long enough for the other gods to gather again.” His internal, burning hand gestures to the horizon. “I’m going to make an island. If you wish, you can take one half.”

Close to the death god, to over watch his prison. It will put her at ease to do so. Alongside the war god, they both can handle Reaper should he ever rise up once more.

Mercy’s wings lift in the slightest when she answers, “That will be best.”


End file.
